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Christoph Irniger / Pilgrim: Mt. TongariroChristoph Irniger / Pilgrim: Mt. Tongariro(2012)(2012)By Published: February 29, 2012 | 4,129 views

Whether by default or intent, Europe's Pilgrim communicates anartistic portraiture of progressive jazz. Framed on the sensibilitiesof travel and alluding to New Zealand's Mt. Tongariro as a corepremise for the underlying themes, this quartet led bysaxophonist Christoph Irniger pursues a signature sound andmethodology. With ethereal overtones, budding passages, andsuccinct treks into the free jazz realm, the program encompassesblustery textural components, as the soloists' detail-orientedexchanges are modeled with authority and poise.

Featuring bassist Christian Weber's edgy arco lines and Irniger's eerie sax choruses, theband launches the festivities with "The New World," where stark imagery looms as anoverriding factor. Here, they set the stage for a multi-phased venture, enhanced by pianistVera Kappler's ever-so-delicate phrasing and concise chord clusters. The band morphs thepiece onto an ascending motif, which could parallel the slow climb up a mountain.

On "Chasing Dreams of Mt. Tongariro," a staggered rhythm creates an unsettling ambiance,gelled by the saxophonist's yearning notes, although the band switches gears on the ratherstoic and moody "Dead Man." In other regions of sound and scope, the quartet kicks it up afew notches via flourishing melodies, amid Irniger's brawny extended note forays and soul-stirring thematic incursions, often reinforced by drummer Michael Stulz's punchy grooves.

Mt. Tongariro tenders a poetic string of musical events. Unhurried, climactic in scope, andlargely designed with memorable harmonic material, the music often takes on anappearance of a cherished shrine. Yet the differentiator relates to the musicians' opennessand subtly articulated movements that surge onward with buoyant ebbs and flows. It alltranslates into a broadly entertaining forum that seeds the antithesis to more familiarmodern-jazz passageways.

Track Listing: The New World; Pathfinder; Chasing Dreams of Mt. Tongariro; Dead Man; Mt.Tongariro; Moving Moment (for Katrin).

Personnel: Christoph Irniger: tenor saxophone; Vera Kappeler: piano; Christian Weber:bass; Michael Stulz: drums.

Record Label: Between the Lines

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CHRISTOPH IRNIGER - PILGRIM Mt. Tongariro (Between The Lines, BTLCHR71228): Der Züricher Tenorsaxophonist, mit Jahrgang 1979 der Jüngste, aber dennoch der Tonangebende der Pilger, hätte keine bessere Mitpfadfinderin in neue Welten finden können als die traumreisenerfahrene Pianistin Vera Kappeler. Die SUISA-Jazzpreisträgerin 2011 hat schließlich mit ihrer eigenen Folklore Imaginaire schon Nordschweden ebenso gestreift (mit Marianne Racine) wie Südafrika (mit Makaya Ntshoko) oder die Berggipfel vor der Tür (mit Bettina Klötl in 'Bergerausch'). Sie ist bekannt für ihren eigenwillig reduzierten, dunklen Ton, der genau das transportiert, was Irniger hier im Sinn hat. Man könnte auf einen nordischen Horizont tippen. Doch es sind da vier Erzschweizer am Werk, die mit einem neuseeländischen Fixpunkt die Imagination ins Anderswo locken. Michael Stulz, der mit Irniger auch in Stefan Rusconis R.I.S.S. spielt, hantiert am Schlagzeug weniger mit Trommelstöcken als mit Farbpinseln und Spachteln. Den drei Traumwandlern den Weg zu bahnen und das Gepäck zu schleppen, dafür gibt es den vierten Mann. Aber das scheint nur beim Titelstück so, das sich vom Basspuls leiten und tragen lässt. Christian Weber ist der wandelbarste Mitreisende und Mitträumer, den man sich denken kann, gerade noch zuverlässig wie ein Bernhardiner, hinter der nächsten Biegung schon ein knarzender Finsterwald, durch den unser schmaler Pfad führt. Etwas Nebulöses und fast Unheimliches ist da von Anfang im Spiel, es steigt aus Kappelers geharftem Innenklavier, aus geschabten Cymbals, aus klopfenden Bassschlägen. Irnigers eigener Ton jedoch ähnelt in seiner Empfindsamkeit, die bis auf Lester Young zurück geht, der Johnny Depp-Gestalt in Dead Man, die, verjagt aus der Stadt Machine (Jarmuschs Version von William Blakes 'Satanic mills'), durch wilde Erfahrungen schlafwandelt und dabei über Schmerz und Auslöschung hinaus so etwas wie Gnade erfährt. Hört nur, wie Kappeler bei 'Dead Man' die einsamsten Noten anschlägt und Alle ringsum den Atem anhalten, bevor ein Ächzen und Stöhnen einsetzt, das in heiseren Gesang mündet, der dem Tumult drumrum widersteht. An sich jedoch genügt Irniger ein zartbitteres Spektrum, um Misstrauen zu schüren gegen die 'Fleischtöpfe' von Machine. [BA 72 rbd]

Ni Kantu, Blog by Clifford Allen, April 2012

http://cliffordallen.blogspot.com/2012/04/music-breifly-reviewed-april-

2012.html

CHRISTOPH IRNIGER & PILGRIM

Mt. Tongariro

(Between the Lines)

Swiss saxophonist and composer Christoph Irniger’s Pilgrim is a quartet that

operates between rugged, clambering and tensile improvisation and a

palpably mainstream atmosphere across a suite of six original compositions

loosely inspired by the New Zealand volcano Mt. Tongariro. The ensemble

also features bassist Christian Weber, pianist Vera Kappeler and pianist Michi

Schulz. Perhaps a new name to American audiences, Irniger has also worked

with pianist Christoph Wiesendanger, drummer Nasheet Waits and others

across the Zurich-NYC spectrum. He studied with Dave Liebman and Mark

Turner, and brings crispness to the instrument that plays out as equally hard-

edged and cottony. I don’t know if one can encounter the tenor without

embodying the giants who’ve gone before; Irniger seems to have

appropriated Wayne Shorter’s polyhedral chords and odd intervals, but in a

way that’s quite personal. One also hears something lighter, perhaps gleaned

from Lee Konitz or Steve Lacy. But it is as a bandleader that Irniger seems to

shine the most.

The group begins tense and metallic on the opening “The New World” –

piano strings plucked and scraped, cymbals grappling with drum heads, and

Weber’s guttural col legno girding it all. Irniger emerges with pillowy

harmonics, brushing up against Kappeler’s sparse, low-to-midrange curls. As

a melody starts to take shape, the wistful murk of piano and tenor grow into

a form that’s gleaned from mid-Sixties Miles, or perhaps Shorter’s The All-

Seeing Eye (Blue Note, 1965), albeit with an appealingly poised ebb. The

saxophonist harps on a winnowed phrase and the quartet expands it with a

demonstrative rhythmic push, akin to the “melodic-free” music espoused by

Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet or pianist Nobu Stowe’s work. That’s

followed up with “Pathfinder,” round and a little bluesy, its jagged time

supporting a melody that the foursome tug at, not so much to obliterate, but

at least unfurling the edges a bit. Schulz’ drumming is out of the Tony

Williams/Joe Chambers/Tony Oxley bag, rustling and brash while also

particulate.

Minimalism is something that attracts Irniger – at least in the context of Pilgrim – and this grows as much out of what I perceive to be the group’s improvisational forefathers (Miles/Shorter/Jarrett) as Morton Feldman and lowercase improvised music. The opening of “Dead Man” is a case in point, where breath, bow, and piano create a sparse environmental interaction that leans toward Polwechsel as much as it does Grachan Moncur III, gradually pushing at the walls so as to become almost unruly. But even the volcanism which ends the tune remains tightly hemmed, which makes the proceedings all the more arresting. The title piece follows a similar line to the disc’s opener, stripped-down romanticism emerging from a disjointed stew that still carries a sense of rhythmic unease (Kappeler’s prepared piano adds subtle dissonance). It’s weird to think of music that toys so much with its own seams as being equally adept at flaunting accessibility, but Christoph Irniger and Pilgrim have done just that with Mt. Tongariro.!

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J A Z Z W O R D R E V I E W SReviews that mention Christoph Irniger

NoReduce

Jaywalkin’nWog Records NWOG 005

Tony Bevan/Joe Morris/Tony Buck/Dominic Lash

Tony-Joe Bucklash

Foghorn FOGCD 016

Pumped up past the expected, despite the common saxophone-guitar-bass-drums configuration are these CDs. Although each features anAmerican playing with a European unit, the path to quality is achieved bydifferent routes.

In one case perhaps visiting Boston guitarist Joe Morris could be the sparkplug for the extended go-for-broke improvising on Tony-Joe Bucklash,since the three other British players have singly and together frequentlyrecorded outstanding work in the past. Besides Morris, known for hisassociation with the likes of bassist William Parker and saxophonist JoeManeri, Oxford-based reedist Tony Bevan is not only one of the (few)masters of the bass saxophone, but equally proficient on tenor andsoprano. Berlin-based Aussie drummer Tony Buck is a long-time memberof the Necks; while bassist Dominic Lash is busy in both New York andLondon. Rather than Morris being the only special guest, this CD alsomarks the first recorded meeting by Bevan with both bassist anddrummer.

Co-op band NoReduce on the other hand is a working group featuringthree Swiss musicians and a New Yorker drummer, recorded in New York.Again, while drummer Nasheet Waits has gigged with everyone frompianist Jason Moran to saxophonist Sam Rivers, the young Europeans haveextensive experience as well. A member of the Lucerne Jazz Orchestra,tenor saxophonist Christoph Irniger leads his own bands and works inmany others. Bassist Raffaele Bossard has played with alto saxophonistTobias Meier among others, while guitarist Dave Gisler works in manycontexts.

Gisler doesn’t have the distinctive style of a Morris, yet in many ways hisplasticity which range from methodical licks to buzzy lead guitar-likemotions help the band’s slowly gelling definition. For instance hiscontinuous chording sets the mood on “Playground” along with clip-clopdrumming and a walking bass line. By the time Gisler introduces spiderydouble-string runs, the saxophonist has hardened the tone of his hithertowispy blowing to expose repeated slurs which are met by guitar fills andcymbal crashes. There’s a similar strategy at work on “The Slope”, but it’sBossard’s power plucks and Watts’ rolling drags and ratamacues whichdefine the exposition. Meanwhile sharp guitar quivers and saxophonevibratos creating rougher theme variations, until the drummer’s climaticpops plus cymbal slaps propel the improvisation back to the head. On theother hand, “Morningside Road” features near-ethereal guitar and saxharmonies that before they circle back to linear reed sighs and guitar fillsat the finale, open up the piece to staccato split tones from Irniger andtough bounces from the drummer.

If the still embryonic NoReduce suggests earlier quartet antecedents fromStan Getz and Jimmy Raney to John Coltrane and Elvin Jones as it definesits identity, the other quartet is fully committed to a Free Music ethos, butconstructs an original identity within the genre. Pushing aside a tendency

to overdo freneticism with bugle-call-like riffs from Bevan, strainedtremors from Morris and protracted percussion emphasis, the four carve apolyphonic narrative from inchoate expansions by blending their parts inparallel patterning.

The quartet attains its most profound confluence on the more-than 35minute “Out of the Rising Sun”. With Lash’s buzzing string slices andBuck’s crashes and bounces as a backdrop, Morris’ stressed strums testthe limits of guitar experience, adding arpeggiated runs and hand pumpsto his exposition. Meanwhile Bevan vibrates tenor glisses that are asabstract as they are stressed. Initially in broken octave concordance withthe reed man, as the guitarist’s slurred fingering deconstructs his lines sothey become narrower and spikier, Bevan counters with his big gun: thebass saxophone. Percussive, persuasive and pummeling his wind-breakingchalumeau and tree-top-high altissimo intensity repeatedly makesanything that could have been output by pioneering R&B honkers LeoParker or Paul Williams seems like polite background music. Buck’s cymbalshattering and Lash’s brawny pumps join the multiphonic reed-masticator,nearly rendering the guitarist inaudible. When Morris finally asserts himselfagain his pile-driver plinks add the needed impetus to make the endingdistinctive and satisfactorily collegial.

A fine first effort, Jaywalkin’ offer some perceptive tracks and solos, butlacks the self-possessed identity that a veteran troupe would have. If theband members stick together it will come. As for Tony-Joe Bucklash, thismeeting is a representative instance of free-for-all improvising. But thesame proviso stands. If the four can convene more frequently the resultwill probably even put this first-rate disc in the shade.

--Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Tony-Joe: 1. Out of the Rising Sun 2. Into the Rising Sun

Personnel: Tony-Joe: Tony Bevan (soprano, tenor and bass saxophones);Joe Morris (guitar); Dominic Lash (bass) and Tony Buck (drums)

Track Listing: Jaywalkin: 1. Endangered 2. The Slope 3. Playground 4. FarAway But Close Enough 5. Dope Factory 6. Jaywalkin’ 7. Morningside Road8. The Mouse

Personnel: Jaywalkin: Christoph Irniger (tenor saxophone); Dave Gisler(guitar); Raffaele Bossard (bass) and Nasheet Waits (drums)

April 16, 2013

Christoph Irniger & Pilgrim

Mt. TongariroBetween the lines BTLCHR 71228

Julian Siegel Quartet

Urban Theme Park

Basho Records SRCD 35-2

As improvised music extends and expands in the 21st Century, it’s not justdefinitions of the so-called avant garde which are changing. Beingredefined as well is what constitutes what is purported to be mainstreamJazz. Unless one only follows the views of some so-called “Jazz” radiostations and so-called “Jazz” magazines which are caught in a rigid andcodified vision of the music, the mainstream is a lot deeper and wider thanthe pre-1960s variant these self-appointed gatekeepers are peddling asthe only definition of Jazz.

In reality mainstream Jazz now encompasses the modal experiments of the

post-Boppers; a sense of limitless space and pacing introducing by theScandinavians in the 1970s; usual instruments and instruments’ limitsformerly the purview of Energy Music; and in moderation, morepronounced beats imported from early Jazz-Rock fusion.

Recorded in the tradition saxophone-piano-bass-drums formation by aBritish-based and a Swiss quartet, each of these lustrous discs reflectthese changes in a different fashion. How you respond to them probablydepends on how you define contemporary Jazz.

Should Hard Bop intensity mixed with chordal and textural analysis exciteyou, then you’ll be quite at home in Urban Theme Park. The nine-track CDis helmed by multi-reedist Julian Siegel, who besides a multitude of Jazzgigs has playing experience encompasses accompanying a clutch ofvocalists, musicians from Ghana and Nigeria, performance artist/violinistLaurie Anderson and pianist/singer-songwriter Steve Nieve. Theunderstated Mt. Tongariro on the other hand is under the direction ofZürich tenor saxophonist Christoph Irniger, who has workedf with groupssuch as therb Lucerne Jazz Orchestra and Cowboys from Hell.

There’s the same disparity among the sidemen. On Siegel’s disc, pianistLiam Noble has published four volumes of transcriptions of the Bill EvansTrio, yet has worked with improv drummer Tom Rainey as well assaxophonists such as Stan Sulzmann. Flashy Gene Calderazzo is anAmerican drummer residing in the United Kingdom, who has backedfigures as disparate as saxophonist Phil Woods, guitarist Wayne Krantz andpianist Hans Koller. Meanwhile bassist Oli Hayhurst is a stand upaccompanist. Irniger’s associates include bassist Christian Weber hasworked with everyone from guitarist Flo Stoffner to Germanpianist/composer Dietrich Eichmann, while drummer Michael Stulz andpianist Vera Kappeler work with many Swiss groups.

Throughout his CD’s nine selections Siegel proves that he’s equallyproficient on all of his horns, His lighter tone on soprano and tenorsaxophones doesn’t preclude him from outputting wide glissandi, fluttertonguing and at points the ability to suggest diverse tones to in effect duetwith himself however. Mixing incisiveness with lyricism in his sopranoplaying, he’s able to motivate a straight-ahead swinger such as “Keys tothe City”, brushing up against Calderazzo’s stop-time bounces and ruffs,Hayhurst’s chiming runs and Noble’s arpeggio filled slurred lines.Furthermore when Siegel brings out his bass clarinet as on “Interlude”, themid-range lip vibrations provide the perfect introduction to the musicalnovella that follows as he downshifts his moderated double-tonguing toharmonize with the other players. Subsequently, as the rhythm sectionswings independently to a low-key finale, the reedist continues to advancethe theme microcosmically and chromatically.

Not averse to utilizing walking bass lines, round robin theme variationsamong the band members, keyboard comping and drum breaks, which insome cases get a mite imperious, these performance of Siegel’scompositions don’t shy away from distinctive touches. For example “DroneJob” features a wide-bore theme exposition from Siegel on top ofHayhurst’s unyielding string drone, with Noble responding with synthesizedkeyboard echoes and speedy glissandi leading to contrapuntal counterlinesfrom slap bass and mallet smacks from Calderazzo.

An opposite tack is taken with the three-section “Game of Cards”, whosefunk basis almost produces spontaneous finger-snapping. Press rolls fromthe drummer and ponderous bass pedal point underline the pianist holdingonto the initial snaking theme as Siegel’s flutter-tongued soprano colors it,leading to higher-pitched and more staccato elaborations in the secondtheme-variant. The saxophone tone takes on a Scottish burr in the thirdvariation that helps amplify background riff as the drummer hits hard andfast and Noble’s high-frequency, double-timed voicing cascade into anear-intermezzo.

Mt. Tongariro, named for a volcanic mountain in New Zealand rather thanSwitzerland is as solemn as the other disc is swinging. That’s solemn, notlugubrious however, although inferences from Nordic momentum and BillEvans Trio-like delicacy sometimes predominate.

Luckily Kappeler is also proficient on adding sprawling, appreciated tonesfrom plucked and strummed internal piano strings while Irniger’s reedtone, while never as upfront as Siegel’s, staunchly avoids ECM-likewaspishness. On a tune such as “Pathfinder” for instance, the tenorsaxophonist’s mid-range, chromatic slurps are balanced with Latinesquerim shots from Stulz and tremolo vibrations from the pianist. At the sametime while impressionistic story telling isn’t neglected in the six selections– the nubs of which were composed by Irniger – harsh, staccato andirregular vibrated textures are interjected in such a ways as to toughen thelines without upsetting the interface.

Perhaps reflecting his heritage, the sax man manages to suggest floatinghunter’s horn echoes matched with slow-boiling piano cadenzas on “TheNew World”. Meanwhile altissimo flutter tonguing, warbles and slides, plusKappeler’s kinetic piano-string stopping and exciting of the speaking lengthduring “Chasing Dreams of Mt. Tongariro”, is more reminiscent of Sun Raconceptions than any Jazz impressionism.

Two saxophonist-led European quartets suggest ways to add subtlemodernism to mainstream improvising without junking Jazz history. Eithercan be investigated fruitfully.

--Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Urban: 1. Six Four 2. One for J.T. 3. Heart Song 4. Keys tothe City 5. Game of Cards 6. Lifeline 7. Interlude 8. Fantasy in D 9. DroneJob

Personnel: Urban: Julian Siegel (tenor and soprano saxophones andclarinet and bass clarinets); Liam Noble (piano and synthesizer); OliHayhurst (bass) and Gene Calderazzo (drums)

Track Listing: Mt.: 1. The New World 2. Pathfinder 3. Chasing Dreams ofMt. Tongariro 4. Dead Man 5. Mt. Tongariro 6. Moving Moment (forKathrin)

Personnel: Mt.: Christoph Irniger (tenor saxophone); Vera Kappeler(piano); Christian Weber (bass) and Michael Stulz (drums)

September 1, 2012

2 0 1 2 / 0 5 / 0 4

Christoph Irniger - Pilgrim: Mt. Tongariro (Between the Lines, 2011)

Gran trabajo el del saxofonista Christoph Irniger al frente del cuarteto

Pilgrim en Mt. Tongariro. El leitmotiv de esta obra es el volcán que da

nombre al parque natural de Nueva Zelanda. Las seis composiciones, todas

obra de Irniger, plantean distintas estrategias en su desarrollo. La principal

sensación que queda por encima de las demás tras la escucha es la de

amplitud, la del gran espacio de libertad, que no de descontrol, de que

disponen los músicos tal y como sucede a lo largo de todo el CD, pero

especialmente en el tema que da título al disco y en “Chasing Dreams of Mt.

Tongariro”. Otro elemento que llama la atención es el magnífico trabajo de

Irniger como compositor. Además de la calidad de sus composiciones, que

tienen un tono tranquilo y evocador de momentos agradables (especialmente

“Moving Movement (for Kathrin)” que cierra el disco), frente de otros que no

lo son tanto (“Dead Man”), en más de un momento son algo parecido a

pequeñas suite. Finalmente hay que resaltar el trabajo de los cuatro músicos

(la pianista Vera Kappeler, el contrabajista Christian Webber y el

baterista Michale Stulz), indispensable para poner negro sobre blanco la

música de Irniger.

© Pachi Tapiz, 2012!